Collected JJEmily Short Fics
by MyQuantumTheory
Summary: I take requests and write drabble / ficlet things over on my tumblr, and I figured I should collect them here too, for those of you who don't do the tumblr thing. These are the Jemily ones.
1. Chapter 1

**I take requests on tumblr, both from prompt lists and general requests, and I'm moving some of the shorter fics that come out of those over here too, since I know a lot of you aren't on tumblr. Loosely speaking, these are the JJ/Emily ones. Fair warning: they're not in any kind of chronological order and don't fit into the same timeline. (Also, some of them were written before _200_ & are inconsistent with JJ's Afghanistan situation.) I hope you enjoy, and reviews are always so appreciated :)**

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Emily is already half awake when JJ starts trembling – she pulls her closer against her, traces her fingertips sleepily up and down her arm, but a few second later she starts kicking out, talking under her breath, and when she wakes it's with a full fledged yell, throwing herself onto her back away from Emily.

"Hey," Emily says, startled, propping herself up on her elbow and reaching toward her, settling her hand on her hip. "You're okay, you're safe."

She starts crying in hopeless sobs and Emily comes closer, gets her hand on her face and turns it toward her, the fear in her eyes obvious even in the dark. "Hey," she whispers. "Come here. You're okay." JJ turns her face into her, burying herself in the space between the pillow and her head, her arms wrapped around herself. Emily sighs, rubs her back and kisses her temple. "I got you," she whispers into her hair.

JJ's arms come out from between them and wrap around her, holding onto the back of her t-shirt. She's shaking, more a shiver than a tremble, her muscles tense and jolting under Emily's hands. "It's so cold," she sobs.

It's not cold at all, not here and now, but she's obviously somewhere else. Emily pulls the quilt up around her shoulders and holds her close, whispering about nothing in particular. She waits until JJ stop shivering and lets go of the back of her shirt, slipping her hand under it instead, then she says, "You want to talk about it?"

She feels the deep breath JJ takes – ribs rising and falling under her hands, warm breath on her neck. "Em, I – I can't. And you don't need to hear it."

"Enough," Emily says softly. She'd be annoyed, except she gets it. "Stop saying that. You don't need to do this on your own. You don't need to protect me."

JJ sighs and settles against her, traces circles on her back with her fingertips. "I know."


	2. Chapter 2

Will sits in the chair by JJ's bed, fidgeting. The doctors said she'd wake up soon, but he's been half awake for so long he has no concept of time. When her eyes open and he stands up, takes her hand. "Hey," he says softly.

"Hi," she replies, her throat dry. "What h-"

"Shot," he says tersely. "He saw you on the news, and then when you were going to the motel…" He shakes his head and squeezes her hand. "You're too good for this world, honey, you don't need to be in this kind of danger every day…"

She closes her eyes. She remembers, kind of. The shot, and somebody grabbing her around the shoulders and pulling her down, and the pain. "Who…" She clears her throat, opens her eyes, and Will is pouring her water. He slips a straw into it and holds it for her while she drinks. "Thanks. Somebody tried to…"

"Emily," he says, brushing her hair back from her face. "Emily saw the gun right before -"

"Is she okay?"

"She's fine, just shaken up. She's outside, the whole team is. Henry too. You wanna see -?"

She nods, although her eyelids are still heavy and it takes a lot of effort to move anything. "Please." His face tense, he turns to walk away. "Hey, Will." He turns back and she grabs his hand. "I love you."

"I love you too," he sighs. "I just wish you'd -"

She closes her eyes for a few seconds – she doesn't want to argue about this again, not now, and even if she did she doesn't have the energy. "You know what this job means to me. It's where I belong."

He doesn't reply, because now is no time to argue about work. He leaves and comes back with the team – JJ holds her arms out for Henry and Garcia passes him over. "Mommy's okay," he says, in a voice that tells her he's been hearing that a lot, and she holds him close and buries her nose in the sweet, baby smell she knows he won't have for much longer, tears pooling in her eyes.

With Henry settled against her chest playing with her hair and her tears just about under control, her eyes find Emily, standing at her side watching with a soft smile. "Thanks," she says. "I remember you um…"

Emily shakes her head, takes her hand and there's a familiar strength in the way she holds it that has her eyes stinging all over again. "Sorry I wasn't faster," she says. "They got him – Morgan shot his tyres out," she adds, a hint of a smile in her voice. "It was like a cop movie." Except the blood on her hands, the way she felt like she couldn't press hard enough to slow the bleeding because her hands kept slipping, the total nightmarish terror JJ doesn't need to know about.

JJ feels the pressure of her fingers change a little, and squeezes. "We won," she says. She looks sideways at Will, then turns her attention to Hotch. "Have they said when I can come back to work?"

When JJ starts to fall asleep, the team start drifting toward the door, and JJ's fingers tighten around Emily's. "Stay?" she says, dragging her eyes open. "Please?"

Emily swallows hard and nods, pulls a chair closer and sits down, keeping JJ's hand in hers. "I'm right here. Get some rest."

JJ smiles and squeezes softly, then finds Will at her other side. "Henry's okay?"

"He's okay, honey," he replies. "Garcia's got it covered. Go to sleep."

She lets herself sink into the pillow and she's asleep in seconds, her breaths coming slow and deep, her hand relaxing in Emily's. She stares down at it, her eyelids heavy, her sleep deprived brain forgetting to keep her in check – she traces soft lines on the back of JJ's wrist with her fingertips.

She's almost shocked when Will speaks. "You're in love with her," he says, his voice quiet. There's no accusation in it, and no question.

Her throat aches and her stomach twists with guilt – she clenches her jaw, keeps looking at JJ's hand although she can feel his eyes on her. She should deny it, she should say they're friends, good friends, but there's nothing else. But she keeps looking down, the manicure chipped but the hand soft and slender and perfect even with the IV needle and the tape and the bruises. This is not something she's equipped to discuss right now, to deny it or deal with it. Normally, she's a pro – she can compartmentalise away pretty much anything. But she hasn't been able to close her eyes without feeling the blood on her hands all over again, seeing the light start to leave those eyes… She's exhausted, in every way it's possibly to _be_ exhausted. She shakes her head almost imperceptibly. "Don't," she says.

"You are," he presses. "I saw it before, but I always thought maybe I was…"

"Will, don't," she repeats, her throat constricting. She closes her eyes until she's sure she can open them without crying. She looks over at him and he's staring back. He doesn't look angry, or even upset. "It doesn't change anything," she says softly, steadily, although it's not quite true. It's changed everything, from the first time she caught herself staring at JJ across a room. Nothing is the same.


	3. Chapter 3

Emily leaves her car near the entrance and walks through the cemetery, the ground hard under her feet and a biting chill in the air. She wraps her arms around herself as she walks, looking around her at the stones left to commemorate the dead. And her.

She finds her headstone easily and sits down cross legged in front of it, six feet above the empty coffin where her body really should be. She doesn't want to be dead, not really. She knew Doyle might kill her, she thought he had, and she fought to stay alive… But the way Morgan and Reid look at her now reminds her every second that it would be simpler, less painful… She stares at the stone blankly, unaware of time passing. _Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity_. When the cold makes her hands sting, she tucks them under her arms.

"Emily." JJ's voice from behind her is so soft she doesn't even react at first. Then she feels her sit down beside her, and there's a hand on her knee, soft and small and gloved. "Em, are you okay?"

"I'm -" she begins, then stops. JJ of all people deserves better than I'm fine. "What are you doing here?"

She turns to look at her – wrapped up far more appropriately for the weather, her concern written all over her face. Emily slips her hand out from under her arm and slides it under JJ's on her knee. JJ smiles and squeezes. "Henry's at Will's this weekend, and I… What are _you_ doing here?"

Emily smiles in spite of herself, drops her gaze to their hands on her leg. JJ must do the same, because a second later she's got Emily's hand wrapped up in both of her own. "You're freezing," she says softly. "How long have you been here?"

"Um – what's the time?"

JJ sighs. "Emily, look at me." She does, dragging her eyes up to meet JJ's, and a familiar flutter starts in her chest as JJ leans a little closer. "You're not down there," she says, her eyes fierce. "You never were. You made it, you're alive and Declan's safe, and you're home and I promise it's going to start to feel like it. Okay?"

Emily closes her eyes as they fill with tears, and JJ's arms wrap around her. She leans into her, finally starting to feel her body ache from sitting here for god knows how long. "I'm sorry," she says, barely above a whisper. "What you had to do -"

"It kept you alive, Emily," JJ says, pressing her lips to the top of Emily's head. "It was worth it. I would've done anything…"

Emily feels a shiver run through her. She sits up straight and wipes tears from her eyes, finds herself staring at the stone again. _Bravery_. "JJ?" she says quietly. "Why are you here?"

JJ's silent for so long Emily turns back to her. She's looking down, fidgeting with her gloves. Eventually she reaches into her bag and pulls out a red rose. She stares at it, twirling it between her fingers. "I used to bring these here whenever I was home," she says. "When you were gone. I knew you weren't here, but I didn't know how else…"

"JJ…"

"I don't even know whether you like them, I just -" She holds it out hesitantly, and Emily takes it, runs her fingers along the stem. "Thornless."

"Thank you." She places the rose down gently, then looks back at JJ, reaches over and tucks her hair behind her ear. "I missed you."

And it's almost funny that after years of thinking about it and months of being sure it would never happen, when they finally kiss they're sitting on top of Emily's grave. Almost.


	4. Chapter 4

Two little girls run along the hedgeline hand in hand, crunching through leaves and trying to stifle their laughter. "Shhh!" Emily giggles. "He'll hear."

She finds the gap in the hedge and crouches to peer through first, then rocks back on her heels to let JJ look. She watches eagerly as JJ kneels beside her and leans forward. "I see him," she whispers, turning back to Emily, her big blue eyes wide and sparkling. She peers through the hedge again. "He works for your _mom_?"

Emily nods. It's not a big deal, really – almost everyone she knows works for her mother. "Uh huh. He does security."

"Wow." The agent turns and JJ dives away from the gap in the hedge, knocking Emily over so they land in a giggling heap in the leaves. "I feel like a spy," she whispers, when she catches her breath, picking dried leaves out of Emily's hair. They sit cross-legged facing each other, occasionally peering through the gap in the hedge to make sure the agent hasn't moved.

"Spies have codenames," Emily says shyly. She's always liked the idea of a codename, something only her best friend would know was her. Except she's never had a best friend.

"Ooh," JJ breathes. "What kind of codenames?"

"Anything we want," Emily says, shrugging. Honestly, she's never got as far as actually _coming up_ with one. "You choose mine."

JJ picks shyly through the leaves on the ground. She doesn't know about codenames but she thinks they should mean something. She has spent every day this summer with Emily and a few weeks at school before, so she should be able to come up with something good – she tries to think of something as rare and special and resilient as Emily. "What about – um – Phoenix?" she suggests, looking up to gauge Emily's reaction.

Emily nods vigorously. "I like that. Why Phoenix?"

"'Cause they start over and over and they stay just as cool and pretty."

Blushing furiously, Emily nods. "Um. You could be… Blackbird."

JJ grins. "You like blackbirds?" She collects butterflies but she likes watching birds too, as close as she can get.

"Yeah," Emily says. "But I like the song more. You know it?" JJ shakes her head. "We'll listen after dinner. It's… Well, you'll see."

JJ grins and Emily leans forward to peer through the hedge. "Blackbird," she whispers. "The target is in motion." She takes JJ's hand, stands up and they race along the hedgeline.

"Coming, Phoenix."

Almost an hour later, they collapse on the lawn, having finally lost sight of him when he switched duty with another agent, got in a car and drove away. It should have been anticlimactic, really, but they're still giggling, heads together on the grass as they look up at the sky. "He never saw us once!" JJ laughs.

"Because we're such good spies."

"You want to be a spy one day?"

Emily's quiet for a few seconds, thinking. "It'd be cool to be a spy I think. But I want…" She turns her head to the side and finds JJ's eyes. "I want a job where I can have a house that's mine, and just stay in it, you know? Not have to move all the time. You think spies can do that? Just stay in one place?"

JJ looks uncertain. "I don't know much about spies," she admits. "Maybe? I hope so." She wants that for Emily – for her to get to live in the same house all the time like she does. She feels a little churn in her stomach, a feeling she can't really figure out. "Emily? You think you'll have to move again?"

Emily chews her lip and looks away from JJ's eyes, back up to the sky that's just the same colour, and reaches for her hand. They hold on tight, because they both know the answer.


	5. Chapter 5

Henry passes Emily a plate, up to his elbows in dish soap – even at twelve he still loves too many bubbles – and she starts drying. "He was that bad, huh?" she says.

Henry rolls his eyes. "He was bo-ring," he says emphatically. "All of mom's dates suck."

Emily bites back a smile, setting the first plate aside and holding her hand out for the next one. "Well, at least she has you around to flag up her bad choices."

"They're all bad choices," he mutters, scrubbing harder than necessary.

Emily reaches out and takes the third plate from his hands, drying it then setting it aside and leaning against the counter. "Your mom is pretty great," she says, watching him slump against the sink. "She'll find somebody amazing, if that's what she wants."

"I think it is," he says, shrugging. "She has all of these dates, but they're all – I mean, none of them…" He shrugs again.

Emily smiles and ruffles his hair. "I know you just want her to be happy. I want that too."

He turns slowly, a hint of a smile appearing on his face. "You like my mom, right?"

"Of course," Emily says lightly, although the rhythm of her heart suddenly feels all wrong – like it's plummeting to her stomach then bouncing up to her throat.

"No," Henry says, his smile spreading. "I mean you _like_ her."

Emily stutters for a moment, and has just opened her mouth to form a real reply when JJ appears in the kitchen doorway.

"Are you guys done with the dishes? The movie is about to…" She trails off, taking in the blush rising in Emily's cheeks, the way Henry has sprung into sudden action emptying the basin. "Um – did I miss something?"

They both shake their heads quickly, and she raises her eyebrows. "Uh huh. Well, hurry up. It's starting. I got the popcorn ready."

By the end of the evening, Henry has given each of them a pep talk, and he's positively gleeful when their fingers weave hesitantly together on the sofa between them.


	6. Chapter 6

Emily gets home, considers changing out of the dress, decides against it and throws herself onto the sofa. She picks up her phone and finds JJ's number, smiling before she even presses call.

"Hey," JJ answers, her voice already playful. "That good, huh?"

"He said I was so beautiful he wanted to paint my portrait," Emily replies drily. "So I asked him if he paints. He doesn't. And that was the most interesting thing I learned about him."

JJ snorts. "You want company?"

"If you're not busy…" Emily says, chewing her lip to bite back her smile.

"I'll be right over."

They do this pretty often now – a couple of times a month, one of them will have a terrible date and call to confirm that it was terrible, then they find themselves together with a movie and chocolate and wine. Honestly, Emily has started wondering whether she's going out with boring guys on purpose – this time she spends with JJ is pretty much her favourite thing.

About half way through the movie, JJ lies down on her side, sleepily stretching her legs into Emily's lap. "This okay?"

Emily chews her lip, settles her hand on the soft, tanned skin, firm muscles relaxing at her touch. "Yeah," she says quietly, trying to keep her eyes on the screen. "Of course."

"Em."

She turns, lets her eyes follow the line of JJ's body stretched out in front of her and finds her eyes.

"I like this," JJ says softly, her eyes wide and searching.

 _God_. Emily smiles, tongue tied, because they've been playing around this edge but it's getting harder and harder to step back from it… Because it feels so good to have her hands on JJ but she has no idea whether she feels the same way, whether she ever could… JJ sits up – it brings their faces so close Emily's heart starts pounding instantly. "You okay?" JJ whispers, her breath soft and warm on Emily's lips, and she nods, feels her eyes slide shut, and then there are feather light fingertips on her cheek.

"Emily?"

"Yeah?" she says, opening her eyes.

"I was thinking," JJ begins, a nervous smile playing around the corners of her mouth, "that next time… We could skip the guy and maybe… _We_ could go out?"

A slow smile spreads over Emily's face, her heart fluttering with relief and anticipation and fear and all kinds of things she doesn't want to think about. She nods. "I'd… Yeah. Let's do that."


	7. Chapter 7

The music is quiet and slow, and they're pleasantly warm and tingling from the wine, just enough of a glow to make the moment feel infinite. But JJ is leaving for the Middle East again tomorrow, and Ian Doyle's flower sits in a slim vase on the end table. She has been preparing and planning, and as soon as JJ is on her way, Emily is going after him. She can't live with this fear, can't let him get to the team and JJ and Henry…

JJ's hand slides onto her knee, up her thigh. "Emily, talk to me."

She forces herself back into the room, turns to JJ and manages a smile. "I'm going to miss you," she says, tracing her fingertips up JJ's arm.

JJ shakes her head a little, tilting it to the side. "That's not it. You've been different all week, you've been -"

"JJ, don't," Emily says softly, turning to brush JJ's hair back behind her ear. "It's nothing. It's okay."

"You're hiding something."

"You'd know," Emily retorts too quickly, then bites her tongue when JJ's eyes widen, stricken. "We can both spot a cover story, honey," she goes on softly, settling her hand at the back of JJ's neck, combing her fingers through her hair. "Please don't push."

JJ meets her gaze and gives her an appraising look. Something is really wrong, she can tell. Emily has been snapping and skittish for the past week, nothing like herself with JJ or the team or even Henry. Her nails are bitten down and she's been avoiding eye contact, avoiding questions… Her heart drops to her stomach with the sudden, solid realisation that there is absolutely nothing she can do – there's no way she can put off getting on that plane tomorrow. "Tell me you're safe," she says, a lump creeping up her throat and her lip starting to tremble. "Just please…"

Emily leans forward, nudging JJ's nose with her own and kissing her lips lightly. "Dance with me?" she says quietly, sliding her hand into JJ's and standing up.

They fold together, JJ's head coming to rest on Emily's shoulder as their arms wrap around each other and their hips sway softly to the music. "Emily…" JJ whispers, her breath warm on Emily's neck.

Emily closes her eyes, presses her lips to JJ's hair. "I'm okay," she whispers back, holding her closer. "It's going to be okay. I love you, you know that?"


	8. Chapter 8

Emily folds arms across her abdomen, gingerly settling her hands on the thick bandages under her shirt, trying to let the sound of the jet calm her. Paris. A new name, a new identity, a new country… _Emily Prentiss is dead_ , she tells herself. She squeezes her eyes shut and bites down on her lip, a lump forming in her throat.

A small hand slides onto her leg, the fingers squeezing her knee softly. "Hey," JJ whispers. "We're going to get him. We'll get him and then you can come home."

She shakes her head, holding herself closer, tighter, trying so hard to keep it all in. He's too good. Doyle is too good, too smart, too resourceful and too well connected… And god, Declan is out there without her, across an ocean… She suppresses a sob and pain shoots through her, folding her in half –

"Listen to me," JJ says firmly, settling her hand on Emily's back and rubbing slowly until she sits upright again. She hasn't been using her name at all, none of her names, and they've both been pretending not to notice. "We won't give up. And you can't either, okay? You're going to go to Paris and get better and take care of yourself, and we're going to find him. We will bring you home," she adds, her voice getting away from her a little.

Emily turns her head slowly, slides her hand into JJ's lap. JJ takes it and holds it in both of hers, her fingertips tracing slowly over Emily's wrist, still bruised from Doyle's restraints. "JJ," she whispers, her voice barely above a breath. "I'm so sorry."

JJ just shakes her head, meeting her pleading eyes. She feels the sting of tears, the ache in her throat as she looks at this woman she has loved for years, this woman who risked everything for their team and a little boy she never stopped protecting… Emily looks away, down at their hands, and JJ lets go, slides a hand up Emily's arm, over her shoulder, to the back of her neck, fingers weaving into her hair… When Emily's eyes meet hers again they're wide and dark and full of questions. "I won't let you go," JJ says, her voice choked as a tear escapes and drops down her cheek, and she's sure she'll resist, sure she isn't going to do the stupid thing, until Emily's thumb comes up and wipes the tear away…

Their lips meet slowly, trembling, their fingers tightening on each other as their hearts race and skip and crack a little.


	9. Chapter 9

JJ slides into the team's booth beside Emily, flushed maybe from the alcohol or maybe from the dancing. "Manning the booth?" she asks, raising an eyebrow.

Emily smiles, slides up to give her more space. "Somebody's got to do it – Rossi abandoned his post." She nods toward the bar, where Rossi is ordering two drinks and signing an autograph on a napkin.

JJ laughs and indicates Emily's drink. "Can I get you another one?"

"Are you going to sign my napkin too?"

"Ohh, if only you didn't already have my phone number, that would've been perfect."

Emily falters, a blush rising in her cheeks. If she's honest it's why she's in the booth instead of out there on the dancefloor – once she got her hands on JJ's swaying hips for one dance it became kind of impossible to get her mind back off them. This playful flirtation they've had on and off for a while is increasingly difficult to turn off. She drops her gaze to her drink for a moment and when she looks back at JJ she's smiling, eyes sparkling and head tilted. "Are you flirting with me, Agent Jareau?"

"I'm flirting with you," JJ confirms, leaving Emily blushing and lost for words again. She smiles, squeezes her shoulder as she slides back out of the booth. "I'll get us that drink."


	10. Chapter 10

JJ trails her fingers around the edge of her glass, watching Emily standing at the bar, then dropping her eyes down to the ring on her finger. She made her choice when she took the ring from Will, she knows that. This shouldn't hurt. She looks up again and Hotch's hands slip around Emily's waist and she leans back into him, craning around to give him a quick kiss. God, her smile. JJ looks back down at her drink, stirring it with her straw, trying to ignore the clawing emptiness in her stomach.

She vaguely hears Reid ask if she's okay, and she nods.

Later, she comes out of a stall in the ladies' bathroom to find Emily waiting for her, leaning against the sink. "Are you going to talk to me about what's wrong?" she says softly, shifting over a little to let JJ in to wash her hands.

"I'm okay," she replies, concentrating a lot harder than normal on the feel of the water hitting her hands. "Just tired. And distracted – work – and um -"

Emily sighs, handing her a paper towel. "JJ -"

"I'm okay," she repeats, too quickly. She knows she has to address it, that the rest of the team have no doubt already congratulated them. "You two are great together," she says, trying a smile as her eyes find Emily's.

She sees the understanding dawn on Emily's face, and before she can look away Emily's hand is on her shoulder, gentle and familiar. "JJ, I -"

She shakes her head, bringing a hand up to Emily's arm, closing it around her wrist. "It's okay," she says, Emily's face starting to blur as her eyes fill with tears. "It is. We – I had my chance. I hurt you first."

Emily sighs, pulling her forward and wrapping her arms around her. Against her better judgement, JJ buries her face in Emily's neck, holding on tight. "If he hurts you I'll kill him."


	11. Chapter 11

_Hellooo - I've decided to do some 100 word drabbles to get my fic muscles up and running again. Here's the first :)_

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They sit on Emily's balcony in London, watching night transform the city.

Quietly, JJ says, "You were so damn plausible."

Emily frowns – JJ of all people knows her secrets were not a choice she got to make.

"When you left," JJ clarifies without prompting. "You chose to go because you were drifting. We let you, when it was our job to pull you back. We were so ready to believe you were doing it for the right reasons."

Emily looks down, surprised to find she's blinking back tears.

"And I'm sorry," JJ adds quietly, the smallest tremor in her voice.


End file.
